(Written December 2009)

Alright baby they’re going to bring you outside
Please cry so hard that there is no mistaking
you are here to stay

Alright baby momma will try
just give me time, I am being born too
but I will bring us through this

Alright baby don’t be afraid
the odds are against us, but that’s okay
the odds don’t know our power

Alright baby we ride at dawn
the earth isn’t perfect but I will teach you
always remember you’re safe in my arms

(Written late March 2018)

darkness isn’t something you see
with your eyes

the heartbeat changes
running on necessity and no will

the skin starts to become so very
heavy

the bones bleed
black agony

someday I will come back
to life

or I will die here
failure
to adapt to
a new
reality

I could feel the pain of extraction searing through my bones

It expelled through my pores beading up on my forehead and upper lip

Finally getting heavy enough to free fall from my nose and chin

Disappearing into the pores of the cement, my basement floor

There was no picking it up or putting it back

Uncomfortably existing in a new reality

Grieving the loss of an illusion

“GET BACK UP” a voice from inside is pleading

“You cannot fit through the pores”

colors unseen by the powers at be

she sees yellow and he sees green

It doesn’t matter to the color

color can be intense

color can fade

all it wants is to share the beauty

Of color